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Chapter 7 – Needing You


No tears were shed. Buffy was mildly surprised she hadn’t cried at all over
the course of the last twenty-four hours, but she wasn’t going to question
it. Throwing herself into her work at the club helped to keep her mind off
the situation.

The club was packed that night, and Parker had decided to have Buffy help
Lorne behind the bar. This was fine with her since it kept her away from
the groping hands of the club patrons. Definitely not one of the perks of
the job. She loved working with Lorne, though. He watched out for her and
was definitely more fun to work with than some of the girls who were
waitresses.

Fixing drinks and opening beer bottles, Buffy noticed that the club was
busier than usual. She was about to ask Lorne if there was something going
on tonight when she heard a voice that was obviously meant for her.

“He needs you, you know?”

Buffy looked up when she heard the serious tone, pausing momentarily as she
mixed a drink before focusing her attention back on the task at hand.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, raising her voice over the pulsating
music.

“I thought I should come talk to you,” Angel said, sitting down on a nearby
barstool.

“Couldn’t have found a better time of day to talk to me?” she asked
irritably. “I’m kind of on the clock here.”

“Just pretend I’m a guy who’s flirting with you and your boss won’t know
anything.”

Buffy snorted at the thought of Parker. “It’s not like he doesn’t know you.
The entire band was here a few nights ago.”

“Even better,” Angel said with a smile. “Tell him we’re planning to come
back and I’m working out the details.”

Opening a beer bottle, Buffy motioned to Lorne that she would be a few
minutes before walking over to Angel. Practically slamming the bottle in
front of him, Angel raised both eyebrows in question. “I didn’t order
anything.”

“If you’re going to sit here, I expect a tip when you leave,” she said,
fighting the pull of the smile on her lips. “Time is money, now tell me
what you’re doing here?”

“A woman after my own heart,” Angel said with a smirk as he took a long
drink from the bottle.

“I’m not after anyone’s heart,” Buffy muttered under her breath, realizing
too late that she had spoken too loud. “What do you want, Angel?”

“He needs you,” Angel replied, repeating what he said a few moments before.

“He needs the drugs more.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Look,” Buffy started, fighting the emotions churning inside of her as she
put an indifferent look on her face. “We had a nice day together. We’ve
got some memories. I’m not exactly in a place in my life where I can be a
crutch for a man who didn’t even bother to tell me that he’s got a problem.”

She quickly busied herself with wiping off the surface of the bar so the
other man couldn’t see the tears swimming in her eyes.

“He doesn’t think he has a problem,” Angel said in a quiet voice.

“Does he?” Buffy asked, making eye contact with him again.

The other man was quiet for a long moment before he spoke. “I’ve seen
worse.”

“Yeah, well I’ve seen better. There are plenty of guys out there who aren’t
users. Why should I make the effort?”

“Because I think you two understand each other.” Buffy stayed quiet as
Angel continued, “He wants to be with you.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said, shaking her head. “He wants to be with me so much that
he sent his employee to try and get me.”

“He didn’t send me.”

“Then where is he?”

“Curing his hangover with a few shots of whiskey would be my guess.”

“You’re not helping his case, Angel,” Buffy replied, seeing Parker throwing
glances her way. “I have to get back to work.”

Angel followed her the length of the bar, stopping in front of her as she
began making drinks.

“Will you just talk to him?”

“He doesn’t even want me, Angel,” she said in exasperation. “You said it
yourself- he’s curing his hangover with more alcohol. He has everything he
needs, so why are you even here?”

“Maybe because he knows how much I need you.”

Buffy froze when she heard the familiar accent, her jaw tightening as she
looked at Angel, who was smirking. “I said he was drinking- I never told you
where he was,” Angel said before leaning closer to her. “You wanted a tip?”
he asked in a low voice. “Give him another chance…he may surprise you.”

Taking a deep, steadying breath as he walked away, Buffy turned to Spike,
who was now standing next to the bar. “I’m working,” she said, turning away
from him as she opened a few more beer bottles and began dispersing them
among the customers. She was slightly disconcerted by the fact that Spike
wasn’t making an effort to talk to her, but the sane part of her brain
reminded her that it was a good thing.

After a few minutes, Buffy turned to the place he’d been standing and
frowned when she realized he wasn’t there.

“Rough night, precious?”

Turning around to face Lorne, Buffy sighed. “You could say that.”

“And does it have to do with either of the two beefcakes you’ve been
chatting with?”

“Nosy bartender,” Buffy said with a smirk as she swatted him with her towel.

“You have to find your own entertainment when you’re working,” Lorne replied
with a smile. “But I don’t think you’re going to have that problem with
entertainment value tonight.”

Frowning in confusion, Buffy turned to look in the direction of Lorne’s gaze
and saw Parker walking toward them.

“Buffy!” he called to her when he got closer. “Clock out, you’re done for
the night.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Parker said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Exchanging a look with Lorne, Buffy did as she was told, realizing too late
the reason she was being let off work early as she walked outside.

“What do you want?” she asked Spike, crossing her arms defensively over her
chest.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Spike replied, shoving his hands in his pockets,
taking a hesitant step toward her. “You said you had to work…I solved the
problem.”

“And what if I said I don’t want to talk?” Buffy replied, walking past him
without sparing him a second glance. “Do you think you can solve that
problem?”

Spike sighed before turning around and catching up to her. It was going to
be a long night.






A/N Just a little teaser- I promise there will be more Spuffy interaction in the next chapter. Thanks so much to: spufette, Chubby109, Juanita, Raven, Ash, Caitie, someone who’s name didn’t show up :-) Jamie C., Laine, Seraiza, Kate, Crystal Pegasus, Jessica, Cordykitten, Ebontier, blondiebear, Franchesca, Alicia, Kimber, Mari, jenny, gypsy_jin, bint, Rana, songgal1, tahmoe, pj, starhawk, SpikesKitten2009, Sevvy_O & BuffyandSpikeForever for reviewing!





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